The Netflix Red Queen has issued yet another “Off With Their Heads!” verdict and Archive 81 is the latest casualty among that streamer’s original shows. That horror series, which drew strong viewership, will not be returning for a second season. It spent three weeks in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings, rising as high as Number 2 with over one billion minutes of viewing. It also spent three weeks in the Netflix Top 10, also reaching Number 2 with a high of 71 million hours of viewing. It was also well-received by critics and fans, holding an 86% Fresh Rating ans 71% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes. No reason has been given for the cancellation at this point, but you have to wonder what the streamer expects from its shows. This was certainly not one of the mega-dollar productions that Netflix is known for, so the audience numbers certainly seemed to justify bringing this less-costly entry back for a second season. But the streamer has its own particular algorithm to determine the success of the show which seems to have very little to do with the number of people watching it. Archive 81 joins an ever-growing list of shows cut short by Netflix that includes Sense8, The OA, Jupiter’s Legacy, Cowboy Bebop, and more. At some point, the many cancellations and the short runs for the streamer’s originals will start to have an impact and could lead to viewership backlash.
Archive 81 did wrap up many of its mysteries by the end of its first season, but there were plans for a second season and possibly more. It would not be surprising if this show were to receive a similar outcry to what we saw from the cancellation of fan-favorite The OA. But the chances of convincing Netflix execs to reverse the cancellation are slim as is the possibility of this moving to a different venue. The streamer generally retains the rights to its originals for at least two years after they end, so even if the show did make a jump, that would be a few years down the road.
Archive 81 follows an archivist hired to restore a collection of tapes who finds who himself reconstructing the work of a filmmaker and caught up in her investigation into a dangerous cult. It stars Mamoudou Athie, Dina Shihabi, Evan Jonigkeit, Julia Chan, Ariana Neal and it is based on the podcast of the same name.
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Too bad. It did a good job with a small budget. Maybe it didn’t check off enough checkboxes for Netflix.